This is a crazy month for science fiction and fantasy books. There’s a new Robert J. Sawyer mind-bender, and Catherynne M. Valente’s last fairyland book. Plus alternate histories, fairytales, magical realism, and tons more. These are all the most unmissable science fiction books in March!

Earlier this week, Microsoft released a short anthology titled Future Visions: Original Science Fiction Inspired by Microsoft, enlisting some of the best science fiction writers to contribute stories inspired by visits to the company’s research labs.

This year's science fiction books are going to rock. John Scalzi returns to the Old Man's War universe, there's a brand new Neil Gaiman novel, and Stephen King's long-awaited sequel to The Shining. Plus brand new books from Austin Grossman, Nalo Hopkinson, Christopher Priest, Diana Gabaldon, Robert J. Sawyer, Joe…

A recent article in Slate deals with the question of whether the internet could ever become the first artificial intelligence, perhaps by "waking up" one day as a mind. Dan Falk, the author of this article, was clearly inspired by Robert Sawyer's WWW trilogy, about just this scenario. Falk interviews Sawyer, as well…

Science fiction and fantasy books are bigger than ever. A Dance With Dragons and Stephen King's time-travel saga rule the bestseller lists. Literary authors all flock to write about zombies, apocalypses and time travel. And by all indications, 2012 is going to be an even greater year for genre books.

What do April's books have in store for you? Naomi Novik's superhero high school, Frederik Pohl's volcanic terrorism plot, and two disturbing looks at a near-future post-apocalyptic world. Plus superpowered parents and the African Harry Potter!

Today's the day when we celebrate the life of visionary leader Martin Luther King, Jr. But the civil-rights legend is also an important figure in science fiction... as an influence, and an occasional character.

The Earth existed for four billion or so years before humans showed up and started recording history. Why limit ourselves to the what-ifs of the past few thousands years? In these alternate reality tales, continents and dinosaur empires rise and fall.

Robert J. Sawyer's "Above it All" is a horror story that takes place on the Mir spaceship. What makes Sawyer's choice of venue odd is the year the story was written, 1996. What's so significant about this year?

April's new science fiction books take you on a trip across a transformed Mars, and to the heart of a British battle against mutant Nazi orphans. Also, a couple of steampunk adventures jostle for a space in your to-be-read pile.

The main problem with a book club, of course, is getting the book. Even in this iPad/Kindle era, it still costs money to get the darn thing. But with Weekend Short Story Club, we're taking the free culture route.

The Internet may become sentient in Robert J. Sawyer's new novel Wake, but there's one thing it won't do any time soon, according to Sawyer: Allow you to publish your novel without going through traditional publishers.

You can't be beautiful and immortal until you abandon your meatsack! Surrogates, opening Friday, shows a culture that's gone over to robot avatars. But here are ten other universes where you could abandon your flesh for a shiny, perfect robo-body.

FlashForward's premise, about a mysterious blackout that grants everyone a glimpse of the future, is kind of hard to convey in advertising. So what do you do? Stick some furniture to the walls, and play "We're falling sideways!"

Phyllis Gotlieb was a struggling poet, battling writers block in the 1950s, when her husband suggested she try her hand at science fiction. The results led to a series of novels about telepathic societies and star-cats, winning Canada's highest award.

If the countless works of science fiction can agree on one thing, it's that the future isn't perfect. And, on the rare occasion when disputes can't be solved with an epic starship battle, it's time to bring in the lawyers.

Virtual reality sounds like paradise: we'll upload our consciousnesses, ditch our smelly meat bodies, and be beautiful, immortal rockstars in a scarcity-free wonderland, forever. But technology never quite works out the way you hope it will, and science fiction writers have already pointed out four ways virtual…